NBA THE ART OF ALLEN
MLB TIM LINCECUM LEADS REVAMP’S OPPOSITION
NHL NATHAN HORTAN OUT FOR GAME 6
PLUS MVP CRIBS FEATURING DERRICK ROSE YOUR BOY DWIGHT IS DPOY! 3-D DWIGHT HOWARD. MVP CRIBS FEATURING DERRICK ROSE
KOBE
IS HUNGRIER THAN EVER. NBA, WATCH OUT.
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CONTENTS 44
KOBE’S HUNGRY
50
PROJECT END ZONE
62
THE ART OF ALLEN
68
MVP CRIBS FEATURING DERRICK ROSE
72
THE DUMMY’S GUIDE TO PEDs
80
MAKING THE BEST OF BAD
84
TIM LINCECUM LEADS REVAMP’S OPPOSITION
The Lakers are riding high, feeding off a boisterous crowd that will now be in a Kobe-induced frenzy. BY: TIM KEOWN
Who says QBs are unpredictable? Not us. Our innovative QB predictor tells all. BY: PETER KEATING
You learn more from your misses than you do from your hits ... So says The Artist Presently Known As Ray Allen. BY: DARRYL HOWERTON
If you thought MTV Cribs was nice, just wait til you see MVP Cribs featuring Derrick Rose ... I mean, I don’t remember 50 Cent ever having three masseuses in his home. BY: DARRYL HOWERTON
When the next steroids scandal breaks, this handy guide will tell you what’s what. BY: SHAUN ASSAEL
When the next steroids scandal breaks, this handy guide will tell you what’s what. BY: SHAUN ASSAEL
When the next steroids scandal breaks, this handy guide will tell you what’s what. BY: SHAUN ASSAEL
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DEPARTMENTS 44 50 62 68 72 80 84
THE INSIDE MAN MOST VALUABLE PLAYER FIVE WAY REPLAY ALL ZOOMING MAIN PAGE TAKEDOWN
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4
NATHAN
HORTAN BOSTON – Since joining the NHL seven years ago, Bruins forward Nathan Horton has dreamed about the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Five games into his first run, Horton has already achieved one of the highest highs of post season hockey - scoring an overtime winner. For Horton, it was the deciding goal in B o s t o n ’ s 2-1 win against Montreal in double overtime of Game 5 on Saturday night at TD Garden. “Since we were k i d s , we all d r e a m a b o u t scoring the w i n n i n g goal in overtime,” said Milan Lucic, Horton’s l i n e m a t e . “He did it tonight.” Surely, Horton dreamed of prettier goals than the one he scored Saturday night, but he’s not about to give it back.
On the play, in the 90th minute of the game, Horton went hard to the net – which he is paid to do on a nightly basis --and was in the perfect position to slam home one of the few rebounds given up by Carey Price, who made 49 saves. “It was an exciting game for both teams, but in the end it felt good to get that,” Horton said. “We knew it was going to be a greasy goal, and it sure was. It was a rebound, but they all count. It was a big goal for us.” Twenty minutes after the game, Horton could still close his eyes and vividly picture every frame of the goal-scoring sequence that will play as loop long after he closes his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep Sunday morning.
“I saw the rebound, we had control of the puck, and I saw the rebound come out,” Horton said, smiling at the memory. “It was like it’s in slow motion. It was just sitting there. I’ll tell you, it felt good to put that in the net. Obviously winning the g a m e , it was a p r e t t y special moment.” It was a moment the Bruins desperately needed. They had lost the first two games of the series here at TD Garden to fall into a precarious hole. Now, after battling the series to a standstill after two huge wins in Montreal, both the game and the series were hanging in the balance in that second overtime.
Something had to happen. Somebody had to step and be a hero. And, that’s the thing about playoff h o c k e y -- nobody e v e r k n o w s who that somebody would be. On this night, it was a playoff newbie with just one post season goal and four playoff games to his credit. He was the man in the right place at the right time, the one that will b e remembered for the deeds of 20 men on Saturday night. “That was a huge goal for Horty,” said Boston goalie Tim Thomas, who s h o u l d at l e a s t be a co-h e a d l i n e r on this night after his 44-save performance, including an epic s a v e on
I SAW THE REBOUND
WE HAD CONTROL
OF THE PUCK, AND I SAW THE REBOUND COME OUT
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Brian Gionta mere minutes before Horton scored. “It’s well deserved, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and that was huge for the team and huge for him.” In its way, it was a validation of all the hard work the line – Lucic and Horton between center David Krejci – had done in this series to overcome a slow start that had the critics in a lather about breaking the unit up in favor of combinations. Lucic still doesn’t have a goal in this series, but he is far more a c t i v e than he w a s earlier. He had several great chances in Game 5 and set up the winning goal with a sweet pick-and-roll play out by the blue line, a play on which he shielded the puck expertly and used his strength to keep the defender at bay and open up a lane for Andrew Ference to get off the initial shot. “Well I mean, we were chipping away all game long it seemed like,” said Lucic, who had 8 shots and blocked 4 Montreal shots. “I don’t know what it is, these last 15 games I just, for myself, whenever I get a scoring chance it seems like it’s not going in. But tonight, for sure, definitely we didn’t get frustrated and it was almost like when we had the opportunity in overtime we wanted to do whatever we could to step up and contribute to this team.
“It’s obviously great that we were able to create that goal. And you definitely don’t want to be satisfied. You want to keep pushing for more and contributing.” For Horton, it will be hard to push for more than Saturday night’s heroics. But, he knows one more win in this series – perhaps as early as Tuesday’s Game 6 will deliver him to the second round and an even bigger playoff stage on which to perform.That would be just fine with him. “We’ve had opportunities to score, we’ve been playing well, but it hasn’t been going in,” Horton said. “But it’s a team game and like you said, in the playoffs, it doesn’t matter who scores, it matters who wins. In the end, that’s all that matters.”
Got ideas, gripes, something nice to say? E-mail the writer at cole. johnson@ablemag.com.
BUT TEAM IT’SGAME A AND LIKE YOU SAID IN THE PLAYOFFS
IT MATTERS WHO WINS
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NATHAN HORTON RIGHT WING - BOS
2010-11 SEASON STATISTICS GP G
A
P +/- PIM PP SH GW S
S%
REGULAR
80 26 27 53 29 85 6 0 2 188 13.8
RANK
128 44 129 75 9 66 79 134 153 95 94
PLAYOFFS 80 26 27 53 29 85 6 0 2 188 13.8 RANK
80 26 27 53 29 85 6 0 2 188 13.8
LAST FIVE GAMES P +/- PIM PP SH GW S
S%
GP G
A
@BOS
1
0
0 1
1
0
0 0 1
3
33
@MTL
0
0 0 0 0
0
0 0 1
0
22
@BOS
1
0
0 1
-1
0
0 0 1
3
33
@MTL
1
0
0 1
-1
0
0
3
33
0 1
7
KOBE
KOBE
BRYANT
The Lakers
are riding high, feeding off a boisterous crowd that will now be in a Kobe-induced frenzy. I imagine the hottest NBA ticket is in Los Angeles when the Lakers play at home, Tickets are selling like hotcakes these days, as a lot of people are going to want to see what Kobe’s doing each night. After scoring 81 points in one game, Kobe Bryant’s status as a player is now in the company of Wilt Chamberlain, arguably, the greatest NBA player to ever play the game. Bryant’s feat is second only to Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a game for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962 against the New York Knicks. So, it begs the question; Is Kobe Bryant one of the greatest? Well, at least he had his name placed next to Chamberlains in the record books. Kobe Bryant says he feels a little embarrassed by his 81-point effort against the Toronto Raptors, and that he is not trying to eclipse Wilt Chamberlain’s long-standing record of 100 points in a game, according to a Reuters report. Bryant continues to be hounded by questions after his scoring outburst. “I’m a little embarrassed actually,” Bryant said after a Lakers practice. “I think it-s exciting for the game and the organization because of all the buzz, but personally it-s a little
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embarrassing.” Kobe Bryant may have some personal issues about which he should be embarrassed, but scoring 81 in a single game is not one of them. He is trying to lead the Lakers to a successful season, and ultimately, a good showing in the NBA playoffs. Bryant leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 35.7 points per game. In January, with his 81 point game, he averaged 43.4 points per game. He joined Chamberlain again in the record books as the only other player to average over 40 points per game in a single month. He says winning is the most important thing for Lakers. “The concept is not about going out there and putting on a show or going out there
and scoring points,” he said. “It-s to win games. I-d much rather go out and score 25 points and get 10 assists and see everybody in a rhythm, everybody in a groove.” About Chamberlain-s mark Bryant said, “I don-t even think about it. That’s unthinkable. It was done once by Wilt, and I’m not Wilt.” One of the most controversial topics for basketball fans is whether Wilt Chamberlain is the best player ever. His incredible statistics are unparalleled, but the great argument against him is that he “only” won two championships. So, there are several players who arguably rival Chamberlain for the title of greatest basketball player of all time, including Bill Russell, his lifelong on-court nemesis, who won a mind-numbing
11 titles and regularly beat up on Chamberlain’s teams in the playoffs. There is also Michael Jordan, who earned six titles and won five NBA regular season and six Championship Finals MVP titles; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also won six titles and is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who won five titles and was more of an all-around player than Chamberlain’s game. Statistically, Johnson was arguably the greatest offensive producer ever. Assuming every assist creates 2 points, he produced 54.85 points per 48 minutes, compared to Michael Jordan’s 50.98
or Wilt Chambelain’s 40.82. Johnson also scored 17,707 points over the length of his career of 906 games, averaging 19.5 points per game. However, there are several arguments that support the idea that Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest player. In his prime, Wilt was so dominant that the NBA actually changed the rules to stop him, including outlawing the inbounds pass over the backboard and prohibiting dunking from the foul line during free throw attempts. The NBA hasn’t changed any rules due to Kobe Bryant’s play. However, his career straight
THECONCEPT
IS NOT ABOUT
PUTTING ON A SHOW
OR SCORINGPOINTS
11
out of high school has taken many twists and turns with numerous well-documented off-court troubles, but his game has always shown steady improvement despite various distractions. The Los Angeles Lakers became perennial championship contenders under Bryant and former teammate Shaquille O-Neal, who teamed up to form one of the deadliest center-guard duos in NBA history. Their success gave the Lakers three consecutive N B A championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The 2003 season saw the end of the Lakers’
run as a mini-dynasty, but also became the definitive season for Kobe Bryant an NBA superstar at only 24 years of age, Bryant averaged over 30 points per game and embarked on a historic scoring run, posting 40 or more points per game for 9 contests. Though impressed by Bryant’s achievement, Pippen said he did not think it was good for the game. “Basketball is a team game,” he said. “People come out to see great team performers. Although individuals tend to rise and make themselves stand out, there is no place in
THENBA HASN’T
CHANGEDANY RULES DUE TO KOBE BRYANT’S PLAY
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I HAVE.
I’VEWORKED EXTREMELYHARD.
I HAVEN’TTAKEN ANYDAYS OFF.
the game really for a guy” to ignore his teammates to the point that “they’re not even a part of the game.” To be fair, offense is only part of the game of basketball. So trying to crown a “greatest ever” in the NBA is nearly an impossible task. To be even more fair, the game has changed radically since 1962 and so has the athleticism of the players. The NBA is inundated with players that perform specific roles for their team. These “specialists” do what they do very well, such as three-point-shooting, defense, distributing the ball, inside game, etc. Wilt was maybe not the best, but for sure, he was the most dominant player the game ever produced. The question is, would he be as dominant
in today-s game with today’s players? Kobe Bryant is an amazing athlete, an all-around player. It is still early in his NBA career, and although has all the tools to eclipse the greatest players in history, he hasn’t done so yet. Kobe Bryant... WE WILL BE WATCHING.
Got ideas, gripes, something nice to say? E-mail the writer at cole. johnson@ablemag.com.
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